The 2008 film Forever Strong may have been rugby union's most visible recent appearance in American media, but another film dealing with rugby union in America is on the way soon. This year, the big news about rugby union in the movies is the upcoming release Invictus, which focuses on South Africa's 1995 World Cup victory. On a quieter scale, tohugh, we'll see the appearance of a documentary on the history and present state of rugby union in America titled A Giant Awakens.
The documentary, whose title is a play on the "Sleeping Giant" term often used to describe the state of rugby union in America, will not be released in major theaters but will aim for other exposure via film festivals, television, sales, rentals, and online streaming delivery.
Visit the film's official site for more information on its pending release, and have a look at the trailer below for an advance look:
In the meantime, you may want to have a look at the 2008 documentary Try for another chance to see American rugby on film. It is available for twenty U.S. dollars, and can be previewed below:
For U.S. viewers, at least one good thing has come from the otherwise depressing saga of Setanta Sports' ongoing financial crisis, though it's happened indirectly. After Setanta U.S. quietly dumped their National Rugby League coverage, the Spike TV cable channel has picked up the slack by showing one tape-delayed match a week starting this weekend and running through the end of the season. Spike is on many cable packages, so many more Americans can have a look than before. If you're undecided about whether to flip the channel starting tomorrow at 11:00 p.m. Eastern U.S. time, have a look:
In a word, Twitter is a site that allows people to make accounts and post very short sentences about what they're doing, sites they'd like people to read, questions for others, etc. In that way it's not so different than a blog, but with entries of only 140 characters each. (No, the Armchair Playmaker site doesn't have a Twitter account to go with this site--we just don't have enough to say for two sites!) (UPDATE: A day after this post went up, we decided we couldn't resist snooping on the stars and make an ACP twitter account.)
One of its most popular uses, though, is not to post but to read others' entries. Users can make an account and "follow" another user to see what that user posts, so many people choose you "follow" friends and celebrities.
We're not weighing in on whether the Twitter phenomenon is a passing fad or here to stay, but given the topic of the bog we may as well point out that there are a number of rugby union and rugby league personalities who use Twitter. Here are just a few of the well-known people and organizations from the rugby codes you can "follow" with Twitter to see what they have to say (or, if you don't have a Twitter account, you can just look at their sites anyway):
You may find more of your own favorites if you look for youself. If you can't resist the Twitter phenomenon, have a look at the video below to learn how to get on board. Just beware that you might be part of the majority of Twitter users who quit the service in the first month.
Anyone we missed who you'd like on the list? Leave a comment below with your recommendations.
Armchair Playmaker provides occasional information, commentary, and video about rugby union and rugby league. Based in the United States, our goal is to share helpful and entertaining material for both casual and dedicated followers from the United States and around the globe.
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